A Trail of Void Stuff
by riley.noble
Summary: The 11th Doctor and Amy find a single remaining shard of an angel. Unable to fathom how it survived, the Doctor is intrigued as to why this particular piece is different, and is reunited with a very special person he thought he'd never see again.
1. Chapter 1: A Trail of Void Stuff

"Doctor, how can that even be possible? The angels were destroyed. We watched them disappear!"

"I know, I know, I know, calm down, hold on," He paused, then picked up the tiny fragment with a spare bit of cloth he found on the floor.

"What are you?" he asked the shard, examining it closely. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the tiny object intently. The readings showed that there was nothing out of order or strange about the shard, but the Doctor wasn't convinced. Then something else caught his eye.

"Wait…wait, wait, wait, no…" He stood staring in disbelief at the small stone, turning it this way and that, trying to comprehend if what he was seeing was real.

"Doctor what is it?" Amy pried nervously, reaching up to touch the stone herself. The Doctor yanked it away and held his hand to stop Amy, never taking his eyes off of the Shard.

"You absolutely must not touch this Amy, it would be very bad if you did."

"Why?"

"This angel fragment doesn't just give off the angel's energy, it's much…worse than that," He immediately ran to the Tardis and began searching through stacks of old papers and clothing, being careful not to drop the shard, and finally arranged a worn out pair of old 3D glasses on his face with his free hand.

"Doctor what the hell are those for?" Amy asked, completely confused. The Doctor held the shard in front of his face and studied it again, this time to confirm his suspicions.

"Doctor!"

"Amy please be quiet!" The Doctor yelled, shoving the glasses into his pocket. "This is even worse than how bad I thought it was before. This shard has been-" He was cut off and the two of them were thrown to the ground by the sudden upheaval of the floor beneath them. The Tardis was being pushed over by something or someone. The question of who was answered when The Doctor heard the all too familiar voice of a Dalek saying "The Doctor has been located. Exterminate! Exterminate!"

Thinking quickly about what he thought he knew about the shard he held, he made a desperate, rash, almost unnecessary decision. There was only one thing he wasn't sure about, but there was no time to explore it any further. He released the rag from around the shard and grabbed Amy's hand.

"Hold on!" He yelled as the vanished from within the Tardis.

Amy awoke on a sand dune a few feet from the Doctor, who was still unconscious.

"Doctor," she mumbled, struggling to sit up. "Doctor wake up." She shook him and he twitched awake.

As the Doctor sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes, Amy got up looked around. She climbed to the top of the dune they had landed on and took in her surroundings. They were on a beach, a huge beach that expanded for what looked like miles into the distance.

"Doctor where are we?" Amy asked nervously as the Doctor came up beside her.

"I have no-" He began, but then, he recognized where they were. He knew exactly where they had landed and both of his hearts instantly filled with so much joy that he was unable to do anything but stand staring at the scenery with a look of disbelief on his face. Amy however was beginning to panic.

"Doctor what planet is this? You look like you know where we are, please!" She shook his shoulder. He turned and looked at her, but his eyes were far away.

"We have to go," He said quietly, suddenly looking around frantically, trying to get his bearings.

"Why? Is it dangerous here or something?"

"We have to get to London." The Doctor started off toward what looked like a road in the distance, and Amy followed, confused and frightened.

It had been days since they landed on the beach in what Amy now understood to be Norway. They had walked and hitchhiked, taken buses and taxis, and finally, _finally_, they had reached the outskirts of London. Amy had given up on any conversation with the Doctor except for small talk, the kind that one can take part in even when they are completely focused on something else.

They took a bus to south London, and made their way to a place called Powel Estate. It was here that the Doctor finally stopped. Amy watched him for a moment, then finally ventured an actual conversation.

"Ok, so are we there?"

"Yes Amy, we're here." He slowly approached the building, but stopped short when a young woman with blonde hair emerged from inside. Amy didn't give her a second thought until she noticed the way the Doctor stared at her. The young woman passed them with a vague smile, showing no signs of knowing either of them. Fed up with the Doctor's antics, Amy finally shook him by the shoulders and yelled to try and get his attention.

"Doctor! Hello, earth to the Doctor! Where are we? What planet is this? Where the hell is the Tardis and why did you drag me to London?" In her anger she hadn't noticed that he suddenly looked very sad.

"I should have known…I should have known she wouldn't recognize me," He then looked up at Amy apologetically. "I'm sorry Amy, this is earth, but not the same dimension we came from. What I was trying to explain to you before the Daleks-"

"Doctor?" A timid, hopeful voice came from behind them. They both turned to see the blonde woman looking at the Doctor with wide eyes. Their gazes locked, and as they stared the young woman almost seemed unsure. The Doctor pulled out his 3D glasses and put them on. The woman covered her mouth with both hands and her eyes filled with tears.

"I followed your void stuff." He said with a laugh as she threw her arms around him.

"Rose," He breathed her name and held her tightly as they kissed.


	2. Chapter 2: A Dalek Angel

"How are you _here_? I thought you said both dimensions would collapse if you ever tried to come back here." Rose asked as she handed out their tea, still wiping overjoyed tears out of her eyes.

"That's the problem, actually, I have no idea how this could have possibly happened, because you are absolutely right. We shouldn't even exist, and that's what bothered me at first." He felt around in his pockets for the shard.

"At first?" Amy and Rose said in unison. Rose laughed, but Amy avoided eye contact with her. She had never seen the Doctor act that way with _anyone_, and he'd never even mentioned Rose…that night when she'd wanted so badly to be with him…everything about his reaction to her made perfect sense now.

"Right, at first, but now I more or less understand what's happened here." He held shard up for them to see, this time using his jacket.

"That shard? That's why we're here?"

"Yes Amy this is exactly why we're here."

"A shard? Of what?" Rose asked, leaning closer.

"This is a shard of a weeping angel,"

"Which still doesn't make sense, since they were sucked into non-existence right in front of us. " Amy added, annoyed.

"Let me finish. This _is_ a shard of an angel, but not the angels we've encountered. This angel is different, it's special."

"But why?" Rose touched his shoulder. Amy gagged quietly.

"Because this particular angel, what's left of it anyway, is giving off heavy Dalek energy as well as its own." Amy and Rose watched intensely as the Doctor once again donned the glasses.

"_And_ it is covered in void stuff, neither of which surprise me. Void stuff is a general substance, clinging to anyone who has ever passed through the void. Therefore one should expect that the void stuff surrounding any given person will absorb they're specific energy. What's fascinating about this little piece of stone is that the Dalek energy emanating from it is _not_ radiating from the void stuff surrounding it. It is actually being produced by the stone itself."

"So, what then, the Daleks created their own angel?" Rose inquired. The Doctor paused and his face lit up.

"Of course, the Dalek's created their own angel! But why? The angels are gone, they never existed, so I suppose that's what makes it so attractive an ambition, but why target Amy and I? Why send us here?" He though for a moment, pacing. The truth dawned on Amy so suddenly that she gasped, drawing the Doctor and Rose's attention.

"They want to keep us…_you _here. You said it yourself, you can't travel between these two dimensions without everything being ripped apart, and even if you wanted to…we don't have the Tardis, they do."

"And if the angel is their own creation and wasn't sucked into the void," Rose added.

"Then that means that…we were set up to find this shard." The Doctor scowled at the small piece of rock in his hand.

"That's how they snuck up on us. They knew I'd be interested in what they'd done," The Doctor slammed his hand down on the table in frustration. It wasn't like him to walk so unaware into a trap, and he despised that they had managed to catch him off guard. He wrapped up the shard in a tissue and slipped it into his pocket.

"So what do we do?" Amy asked, finally feeling as though they were getting somewhere. The Doctor paced while he thought, which made both Rose and Amy restless. After an agonizing minute of watching him struggle for an answer, Rose got up and gently took his face in her hands. Amy looked away, angry and slightly humiliated.

"Doctor," she looked into his eyes, trying to communicate with him internally to relax. He sighed and took both her hands and held them, looking down. He was still for a moment, then looked up, an epiphany bright in his eyes. He looked at Rose and Amy reassuringly.

"We need to find Donna."


	3. Chapter 3: Losing You Again

"Donna? Who's Donna?" Rose asked as they sped down the road in her car, fortunate that the Doctor knew where he was going.

"The shard absorbs energy, right? Right! But we can't link it to just anyone. The connection has to be strong, it has to be based on someone who was a huge, influential, interplanetary event, someone who made a mark on time and space forever. So we'll need to bring it in contact with Donna so that there's a good strong connection with our dimension." Then he realized something else.

"The shard is just that, a shard. But where's the rest of the angel?" They looked at him expectantly.

"It's here, in this dimension. They broke off the shard, then used it to send the angel itself here. And if their angel is here…"

"Then there will be a Dalek or two guarding it." Amy finished.

"Yes! Exactly! Tracking down a Dalek is easy enough," He said, whipping out his screwdriver. "Especially in a dimension where void stuff is scarce."

When they arrived at Donna's house, Wilfred was out front mowing the lawn.

"Afternoon," He greeted them politely as they approached. "What can I do for you?"

"Wilfred, I need to speak to Donna."

"You who? You her new boyfriend or something?" Wilfred asked suspiciously. Rose and Amy both rolled their eyes.

"No, actually, she's never met me before in her life, but I'm an old friend." He patted a very confused Wilfred's shoulder and made his way inside.

"Donna?" He called. Wilfred bustled in beside him.

"Donna, you have a, uh, visitor." Wilfred said as Donna emerged from the kitchen.

"Thanks gramps. Hello who are you then?" She asked, examining the Doctor.

"Hello Ms. Noble, I'm from an up-and-coming temp agency and we heard you were the best temp in all of London." He quickly showed her his "ID" and went on. "Had to call, you know. Have a test here for you if you wouldn't mind. Please just hold out both your hands." He removed the tissue-wrapped shard from his jacket pocket and placed it in her outstretched hand. Though flattered by his praise, after about a minute Donna became frustrated.

"Alright, what's this about? Is this a joke? What the hell is this test for anyway?"

"Finger strength, you know. Thank you." He took the shard and placed it back in his pocket, then gave Donna a warm hug. He thought for a split second how wonderful it was to see her again. Luckily, since she was from this dimension, she had no idea who he was.

"Really must be going now. We'll get back to you." He called as they rushed back to Rose's car. Donna and Wilfred watched them go from the front door. Wilfred patted her on the back and went inside mumbling, "Well that was odd."

As they drove away, Amy was ecstatic.

"We can get out of here now, right?" She glanced at Rose whose face fell at her words. Amy felt a little guilty about the small victory she tasted, but she knew it was just because she was jealous. She knew that Rose and the Doctor would be connected and would want each other even after everything was back to normal, and probably forever.

"Oh yes!" The Doctor leapt from the car and looked closely at the shard through the glasses. There was definitely more void stuff surrounding it now.

"Good, good." He turned to Amy and handed her the shard.

"Keep this safe, I'll just be a minute. Amy watched him walk back to the car, to Rose. She had sat silently on the ride back from Donna's, aware of and dreading what was going to happen next. Amy couldn't help but overhear their conversation.

"Rose…I'm so sorry, but I have to go back…no, please don't cry," He wiped the tears from her face with gentle hands as he tried to keep her calm

"I finally got you back…I can't just let you go again." She sobbed. This confused him.

"Just got me back? Haven't I been here with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I left you with…wait…how long has it been since you were first sent here?"

"Six months, why?"

"Six months…oh, I see, I haven't…"

"What are you talking about?" Rose asked him, confused. He looked at her and laughed softly, caressing her face.

"It's a surprise. You'll find out soon enough." He lifted her chin and kissed her softly.

Amy's heart knotted as she watched the scene. She had always thought that he would be _her_ Doctor, but now…

The Doctor watched Rose sadly as he asked Amy for the shard and took her hand. Rose closed eyes, not wanting to have to see him disappear forever for a second time. They all waited, but nothing happened, and when Rose looked up the Doctor and Amy were still standing before her.

"What's going on?" Amy was more than a little irritated that they were _still _stuck. The Doctor studied the shard.

"No, no, no!"

"What's wrong?" Rose almost ran up to him. The Doctor scanned the shard again.

"It doesn't have enough energy left to take us back. The Daleks only broke off enough to get us here."


	4. Chapter 4: Destruction of Dimensions

"Well this is just fantastic!" Amy yelled angrily, storming away. It had been more than enough that she was stuck in a world where The Doctor only had eyes for Rose, but she was sure that they were going to be able to get back fairly easily. Fat chance, she thought to herself now. The Doctor may have made things look easy, but she knew they really weren't…by normal, human standards.

It was Rose's turn to feel slightly jealous as the Doctor went after Amy.

"What's going on, what's wrong?" The Doctor searched her face for hints as to what she was thinking, but didn't have to look for long.

"We're stuck here, what do you think? And while I'm out here in reality panicking, you're off in your head with _her_," She gestured to Rose, who had turned away. The Doctor chuckled and rested his hands on Amy's shoulders.

"Amy Pond, you sound like a jealous girlfriend."

"Yeah like that would happen," She paused. "The worst part is that, when I see the two of you together, I feel like I'm missing half of myself…like someone should be here for me the way you are for her." The Doctor smiled.

"Amy, that is a wonderful, important feeling. I know it doesn't seem like it now, but trust me, hold on to it, keep in safe in your mind."

Amy nodded and rolled her eyes, "I just think you could stand to try and stay focused." She socked his arm.

_"_Amy I promise you that I am doing everything I can to make sure that you get home safely…and ow," He smiled. On the inside, however, he felt a pang of sadness, knowing that, as much as he loved Rose, he couldn't be with her forever, or even a decent fraction of forever.

"Come on then," Amy tugged him back toward Rose.

"So where to now?" Rose asked as they rejoined her.

"Now," The Doctor replied. "We find the Daleks and their angel."

"Sounds like a plan." She said.

As The Doctor had predicted, tracking down the angels wasn't difficult, and they traced them to an abandoned warehouse in the middle of an old power plant.

"How cliché," Amy mumbled as they got out of the car. Walking around, nothing looked suspicious, but the three of them knew better than to assume they were safe, especially when there were Daleks to be dealt with. The Doctor scanned the door as they approached the building, trying to decipher what the Daleks were up to. The door was open a few inches, and as he peeked through he could see three Daleks and the angel-which was missing a chunk of its left wing-and noticed the ample wiring that connected the angel to something on the other side of the room. He shifted his position to get a look at what it was…it was the Tardis.

Taken aback for only a moment, he observed that half of the wires connected the angel to the Tardis, and the other half connected it to the ceiling, or rather…he back up far enough to see the roof…the enormous tower constructed on top of the warehouse. He tried to scan the tower from the ground, but the second he did so a voice rose from within the building.

"Sonic energy detected! The Doctor has arrived!" Then there was a click. Amy and Rose watched him from nearer the door, and it only took a fraction of a second for the Doctor to realize what was about to happen.

"Run! Get away from the door!" But his warning wasn't soon enough. The door was blown open by a powerful explosion, and Amy and Rose were thrown to ground. The Doctor fell backwards as the Daleks emerged. One pointed its weapon at the Doctor while the other two transported Amy and Rose inside.

"You will follow," The Dalek told him. He obliged begrudgingly, inconspicuously making sure that the shard was easily within his reach.

Once inside, The Doctor was able to take in the entire room, and watched angrily as the other two Daleks secured his unconscious companions in chairs and sealed their wrist and ankle restraints.

"So what's your plan then?" He asked the nearest Dalek.

"Daleks will rein supreme."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've heard this one before. My question is, why do you need an angel?"

The angels are the perfect weapon, sending its victims back in time and feeding on their unused energy. Your Tardis, however, is the key."

"The Tardis doesn't work without me." He spat back.

"You are expendable. The power of the angel will send the Tardis through all dimensions, ripping apart all but one, in which Daleks will rein supreme and superior."

"Let me guess, you'll be keeping the angel for yourselves then?"

"The Dalek angel collects energy that will feed our kind. Starting here, with the woman you love, we will send every living creature from every planet in the universe to this dimension-"

"But it doesn't matter what other dimension you send them to because you'll have destroyed them all. You'll send them all into nothingness, you'll eliminate them!"

"We are superior. We will live forever!"


	5. Chapter 5: Dream of Me, Rose

The Daleks, having activated a holding cell around the Doctor, had completed their final preparations for their hideous plan, which included wiring Rose to the Tardis and angel as well.

"You leave her out of this!" The Doctor yelled, furious. "You're battle is with me, you want _me_, so why involve her?"

"She is linked with the Tardis. She absorbed it's energy. The Tardis will respond to her presence."

"The more power the better, eh? But you know what will happen. Ripping that left-over energy out of her body so violently will destroy her mind. She'll be a shell." He seethed.

"She is expendable."

"Like me, right?" He asked, glancing up. "Well let me tell you-"

"Silence! Activate the Tardis!" The Dalek on the other side of the room commanded. The three of them pointed their weapons at the angel and fired. What emerged however, was not a fatal ray of death, but pure Dalek energy. It flowed into the angel, and from there into the Tardis.

There was a whirring sound and a deep rumbling as the machines around them powered on. As the building shook, the Doctor looked up again. This warehouse must have been used for moving and storing materials to build the power plant, as there was a massive industrial magnet hanging above their heads.

"Drain the energy from the female." Another machine powered on as Rose regained consciousness.

"Doctor?" She struggled, realizing her situation, and became more and more desperate.

"Doctor! Help me!" She cried. The machines around them hummed and snarled angrily, using so much power that the holding cell around the Doctor began to flicker and dissipate.

"Doctor!" Amy yelled groggily. She motioned with her head to the object to the Doctors right. It was a giant switch.

"The magnet," she called, looking up.

"Right!" he yelled back. At just the right moment, when the holding cell flickered, he jumped out from under it and faced the Daleks.

"You destroy planets, you conquer dimensions…" He began as the Daleks turned around.

"Impossible!" The screamed.

"You meddle with innocent people's lives and feel no remorse in killing anyone, whether they stand in your way or not."

"All creatures are inferior to us! We will purge the universe of such-"

"Yes, we know! _You_ and all-powerful, _you_ are superior in strength and intellect."

"Correct."

"But even with all your knowledge and superior thinking, there is still one thing you have _not _managed to learn!" He placed his hand on the switch.

"Explain!" They targeted him, about to fire.

"Never, _ever_, hurt the people I care about." He pulled the switch down with all his might. The magnet swinging above them came to life with a loud electrical hum, and the second before the Daleks fired, their weapons were forced upward by the pull of the magnet. Their shots exploded into the base of the tower, the sudden disconnection sending a surge of electricity through every machine in the building, including the one connected to Rose. She screamed as it pulsed through her, then sat limply as the tower came crashing down through the roof, crushing the Magnet, the Daleks, and their angel.

As the building began to cave in, the Doctor used his screwdriver to free the girls, and carried Rose carefully as they ran for the Tardis. He rerouted the flow of Dalek/angel energy to be stored temporarily in the Tardis' system, they're only chance of getting home. As they disappeared, the warehouse collapsed with a harsh grating noise, then everything was quiet.

* * *

The ride back to Rose's home was silent. The Doctor took care to make sure that Rose was unharmed by the intense amount of energy that has just been thrust through her entire body.

"So will she be alright?" Amy asked, stepping out of the Tardis into the yard.

"She's fine…save one thing." He brushed the hair out of Rose's face.

"That machine was designed to suck the residual Tardis energy out of her, but the energy that passed through her was diluted by the surge of pure electricity. She will still be able to think, and speak, and live normally…but she won't be able to remember what happened. She won't remember _this_ me, or you…" His voice faded.

"Doctor, didn't you say that something else hadn't happened yet? That this is _before_ it took place?" Amy asked, trying to make him feel better. He nodded.

"You come back to see her again, don't you?"

"Yes, I see her again after Donna…"

"After Donna what?"

"I'll tell you another time. Wait here, I'll take her inside."

* * *

The Doctor laid Rose gently on her bed and sat beside her.

"This was supposed to be impossible, you know," He spoke to her quietly. "I wish you could remember this…it would give you hope, even after I have to force you back here again," He scowled. "I promise this won't become a habit. Next time…next time, at least part of me will stay here with you. Forever." He kissed her forehead and looked at her one last time…then left.

He entered the Tardis to find that Amy had fallen asleep, and took the opportunity to take them back to where they had found the shard, only a few minutes before they had arrived the first time, safely in their own dimension. Once there, he fought with himself about the decision he was about to make for a good hour before finally placing the shard, which had been charged by the Dalek power flowing through the Tardis, in the same spot he had claimed it from. It was very unlike him to play with time for his own gain, but seeing Rose…it was worth it, and the Daleks were nothing he couldn't handle.

Their angel had been crushed after the Tardis absorbed its energy and life force, rendering it nothing but stone.

Rose awoke the next day feeling revived and rejuvenated. She went about her day unusally happy, and held, elated, onto the vague yet blissful whispers of her dream about the Doctor that she couldn't quite remember.

_**The End**_


End file.
